Mitsu Yasukawa/The Star-LedgerFormer Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano stands next to his lawyer as he comes out of the Federal Court House in Newark in this 2009 file photo. Cammarano is expected to plead guilty to corruption charges on Tuesday.HOBOKEN -- Peter J. Cammarano III, the former mayor of Hoboken who spent just three weeks in office before being caught in last year’s sweeping FBI sting, is scheduled to plead guilty Tuesday before a federal judge in Newark, according to two people briefed on the planned proceeding.

The 32-year-old Democrat was arrested in July along with scores of others and charged with taking $25,000 in illegal campaign contributions from an undercover informant posing as a developer trying to bribe public officials.

Attempts to reach Cammarano, the youngest mayor in Hoboken history, were unsuccessful. His attorney, Joseph A. Hayden, was unavailable tonight.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman declined to comment.

If Tuesday’s hearing goes as expected, Cammarano, an attorney who specialized in election law, would be the most prominent former official so far to plead guilty in the case. The two people who described the proceeding asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Sixteen other defendants have already admitted guilt in connection to the investigation. A 17th was convicted at trial.

In all, 46 people were charged in the operation, including three mayors, two state legislators, five rabbis and one man accused to trying to sell a human kidney. It was the largest federal sting operation in state history.

The charges marked a stunning collapse for Cammarano, a former city councilman widely viewed as a rising political luminary among state Democrats. During his run for mayor, he portrayed himself as a fiscal watchdog and family man, often appearing at campaign events with his wife and young daughter.

Cammarano prevailed in a hard-fought run-off election in June. He took office July 1. Twenty three days later he walked into FBI headquarters in Newark, wearing handcuffs.

Authorities say Cammarano met five times with Solomon Dwek, the informant at the crux of the massive sting. Dwek, a failed developer, began cooperating with the FBI after being charged in 2006 with a $50 million bank fraud. He pleaded guilty in October.

In exchange for promising to support what turned out to be fictitious development proposals, Cammarano accepted $25,000 from Dwek, authorities said.

The informant gave the cash to Cammarano’s associate, Michael Schaffer, who allegedly converted it into campaign donations, authorities said. Schaffer was also charged.

Eight days after his arrest, Cammarano resigned, bowing to the demands of angry protesters in his hometown and pressure from then-Gov. Jon Corzine.

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano plans to plead innocent of charges

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano plans to plead innocent of chargeHoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano walks out of the Federal Courthouse in Newark. Cammarano, 32, a Democrat, is charged along with associate Michael Schaffer, a commissioner on the North Hudson Utilities Authority, with taking three payments of $5,000 each to push through building plans for a high-rise development in Hoboken that was being proposed by a man who turned out to be a cooperating witness for the government. (Video by John Munson and Michael Monday / The Star-Ledger)

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano resigns in a letter to the city

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano resigns in a letter to the cityHoboken city attorney Steven Kleinman announced to the media that Mayor Peter Cammarano submitted a resignation letter effective at noon on Friday. Cammarano resigned because of his arrest in a FBI money laundering and corruption ring and said that the charges have become a distraction to him and the Hoboken government. (Video by Jennifer Weiss/The Star-Ledger)